Friday, June 24, 2005
A post in which I (grudingly) spot Thomas' backbone
In the interests of intellectual honesty, I must admit, I agree with minority opinion holder Thomas on the Kelo decision .
Monday, June 20, 2005
Stem Cells and Chruch and State
Way to go Mario. Nicely said.
To extricate himself from an untenable position, the president should start by following the successful pattern established in other areas of dealing with the clash of religious and political questions, including the law concerning abortion. The right of true believers to live by their own religious beliefs will be guaranteed: no one will be compelled to use stem cell research or its products, just as no one will ever be compelled to have an abortion. And the nation will respect the right of believers to advocate for changes in our civil law that correspond with their own view of morality.
But our pluralistic political system adopts rights that arise out of consensus, not the dictates of religious orthodoxy; and if such rights are adopted - approving abortions or financing stem cell research on leftover embryos - they will be the law of the land, even if religious dissenters, through their tax dollars, end up helping to pay for things that they find anathema. Every day Americans who abhor the death penalty, contraceptives, abortions and war are required to pay taxes used in part for purposes they consider offensive. That is part of the price we pay for this uniquely successful democracy.
Mario is beating an interesting drum here: There are few half-measures in religion. Either you believe or you don't but you can't really plot a course the same way you do in politics. That's a good reason why Chruch and State need to be seperate. Religion allows for few compromises.
To extricate himself from an untenable position, the president should start by following the successful pattern established in other areas of dealing with the clash of religious and political questions, including the law concerning abortion. The right of true believers to live by their own religious beliefs will be guaranteed: no one will be compelled to use stem cell research or its products, just as no one will ever be compelled to have an abortion. And the nation will respect the right of believers to advocate for changes in our civil law that correspond with their own view of morality.
But our pluralistic political system adopts rights that arise out of consensus, not the dictates of religious orthodoxy; and if such rights are adopted - approving abortions or financing stem cell research on leftover embryos - they will be the law of the land, even if religious dissenters, through their tax dollars, end up helping to pay for things that they find anathema. Every day Americans who abhor the death penalty, contraceptives, abortions and war are required to pay taxes used in part for purposes they consider offensive. That is part of the price we pay for this uniquely successful democracy.
Mario is beating an interesting drum here: There are few half-measures in religion. Either you believe or you don't but you can't really plot a course the same way you do in politics. That's a good reason why Chruch and State need to be seperate. Religion allows for few compromises.
Blogging on the Run
One of the nice things about mving to blog spot (and there have been a mix of good and bad things so far), is that I get to blog when I'm on the road. Now I just need to find the time to add entries...
I'm in NY this week at the Securities Industry Association conference where I am co-hosting the MSFT booth.
I'm in NY this week at the Securities Industry Association conference where I am co-hosting the MSFT booth.
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